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Travis at Royals blog, One Royal Way www.oneroyalway.com, not only covers Kansas City Royals baseball, but his site also includes a page featuring information on every major league ballclub. He has bloggers that are fans of each team contribute the team description for each team page so that it adds a little more to the reading experience. Also, he feels it makes more sense for a fan of said team to write the description instead of him doing it himself.

He asked me to create the description for the Cubs page and it was fun to write. Thought I’d share it with you here.

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are the kind of life long commitment that they should sell insurance for. Think about the things that you buy insurance for to protect you from. They are for all of the worst case scenarios in life. House burning down, flood, car accident, death. They should immediately add to the list: Cubs fan.

In all of the above situations you are put out, living a situation that leaves you speechless and wondering, how could this happen to me? Why me? And when you are a Cubs fan, that happens all of the time. Follow by a quick look to the fan to your left or right at Wrigley, in a bar, at home, or at an opposing team’s stadium and asking aloud “Why us? Why us AGAIN?”

It would be the most expensive insurance of all insurances sold to baseball fans of course because we as Cubs fans would need it the most. Essentially, all other baseball fans if they too could purchase insurance for rooting for their team, their monthly payments would only exist to cover costs the insurance company would gather in paying out to help out Cubs fans. It is a brutal existence and a little insurance as a fan to add to those occasional and not-so-often insurance runs would be a great thing to have.

This team is called the Lovable Losers, however I’m not sure how many fans ‘love’ their Cubs as opposed to simply being ‘addicted’ to them. Rooting for the Cubs is a bad habit that few are able to break. The highs are so great because they are so rare that you can’t wait to experience another and it drives you crazy that jonesing in between the highs.

The team hasn’t won a World Series since 1908 and hasn’t appeared in one since 1945. The ration of fans who live to see the Cubs win a World Series to those that spend their life eting peanuts and Cracker Jack and then never getting a chance to even decide whether they want to get back or not…I couldn’t even begin to guess. All you can do is put on your Cubs hat and hope that you do get to see them win the big game in your life time and that things like Brock, black cats, goats and Steve Bartmans stop getting in the way. (Moises Alou would never have caught that ball by the way, just saying).

The Cubs have given us stars like Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins, Billy Williams, Mark Grace, and on and on. Addicted or ‘in love’ with their Cubs, fans come back to root them on at Wrigley Field, visit them on the road, watch WGN, listen to the radio and hope for the best. You can learn a lot about the team in many, many places on the web. Just thought this might give you a better insight as to what it’s really like to be a Cubs fan. However, the short answer to the question tell me about the Cubs and what it’s like to be a fan? It’s awesome. (Calling Geico now to deliver my pitch). Go Cubs Go!

If you are a fan of one of the teams he still needs a blogger to write the description for, shoot him an email and see if he’s interested. Otherwise, go check out his site simply because I said so. (Plus, even on the East coast, you still have an hour and half to kill before the work day’s over so why not?)

Like this:

Ten innings of history in the making. One of the most exciting games of the year lead to the Cubs taking a two game lead in the NL Central, a five game winning streak to the extended status of six games in a row and their record to 10,000 wins all-time! Only the second team to reach the 10,000 win mark ever! Wood goes down in the books as the winning pitcher, even though he blew the save (a weird consolation prize the way baseball scoring works, you’d have to admit) and Marmol got the save. Loved seeing Marmol come in and get the save…it’s not even that Wood pitched poorly, just a couple of pitches got away from him and he paid for it. With a ‘W’. Again, weird. More thoughts on this to come when its not so late…for now, let me announce the new Prose and Ivy Chat board here on the blog that you can find me in during most games. Feel free to come by and say hey on game days. Until I get a chance to post more, here were my in game thoughts I posted in the chat board (in case anyone happened to stumble across the chat board during this history making event:

Prose and Ivy Ryan: c’mon hill, let’s go!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: look at soto go…and cedeno getting some respect! (i know, its to set up the force outs, but still, Cedeno’s slam=RESPECT

Prose and Ivy Ryan: lee and ramirez…good times for cubs fans…not so much for opposing pitchers!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: soto 3-for-3! nice!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: theres the first blemish on hill’s night 3-1 Cubs

Prose and Ivy Ryan: wuertz is horrible

Prose and Ivy Ryan: this could get ugly quick

Prose and Ivy Ryan: wow, that sixth inning was hard to watch

Prose and Ivy Ryan: gotta love the fight in this team!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: fuku-dome!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: fuku-dome!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: they are SCARED of him!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: do it for michael johns derosa! : )

Prose and Ivy Ryan: f*ck

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 10,000 just may have to wait another day…bot 8, 5-4 COL…

Prose and Ivy Ryan: here we go bot9

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 1 away…

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 2 balls to Lee…

Prose and Ivy Ryan: Lee gets on base and the lead run comes to the plate in Ramirez!!!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: pie in to run for Lee! strike one to Aramis

Prose and Ivy Ryan: Ramirez on a 1-2 pitch…deep to left field for the LEAD, 6-5!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: Hey Hey! I almost called it to right….I could feel it coming and then BOOM to left! AWESOME!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 7 8 9 coming up for the Rockies…a combined 1 for 6 on the day (and one guy hasn’t even hit yet!)

Prose and Ivy Ryan: wood comes in and immediately 0-2, a ball and then STRIKE THREE

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 1 away

Prose and Ivy Ryan: let’s go Wood! let’s go!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: and again STRIKE TWO!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 2-1 count on Podsednik

Prose and Ivy Ryan: base hit

Prose and Ivy Ryan: damn

Prose and Ivy Ryan: Let’s go Wood

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 6 game win streak…10,000 overall on the line..Wood v. Spilborghs! (who saw that coming for the history books?)

Prose and Ivy Ryan: are you kidding me? 6-6 and it has to be a guy named Podsednik off a hit by some no-name Spilborghs???

Prose and Ivy Ryan: and of course Barmes….strike three.

Prose and Ivy Ryan: way to go Wood. history class dismissed.

Prose and Ivy Ryan: here come the cubs in extra innings again

Prose and Ivy Ryan: ward intentionally walked

Prose and Ivy Ryan: c’mon theriot..how about a 10th inning RIOT

Prose and Ivy Ryan: theriot hitting .365 for the month of april…

Prose and Ivy Ryan: And in comes Fontenot making it 7-6 Cubs….somebody get Marmol up and ready!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: after all these years leading up to win 10,000, what’s another inning?! 🙂

Prose and Ivy Ryan: heading into the bottom of the ninth…did I say history class dismissed? My bad, sit back down, that bell didn’t ring yet!!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: all kinds of wins this year…could number 10,000 all time and six in a row be of the one run, extra inning variety? perhaps! bot 9 up next!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: Awesome…Marmol it is.

Prose and Ivy Ryan: Go Cubs Go!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 3 fouled off pitches, helton making marmol work for this one

Prose and Ivy Ryan: pitch 8 to helton is hit to cf and pie puts it away…one down!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 2 strikes to holliday…how about something to celebrate this holliday?

Prose and Ivy Ryan: annnnddd……

Prose and Ivy Ryan: ball 1…seven pitches in to a full count…grounded to first!!! celebrate this holliday: 2 away!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: atkins takes strike 1

Prose and Ivy Ryan: COME ON MARMOL!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: BALL 1

Prose and Ivy Ryan: BALL 2

Prose and Ivy Ryan: AND MARMOL GETS THE THIRD OUT BY CATCHING THE INFIELD FLY! ATKINS IS OUT

Prose and Ivy Ryan: CUBS GO 15-6 ON THE SEASON!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: 6 GAME WINNING STREAK IN TACT!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: AND THE ORGANIZATION GETS ITS 10,000TH WIN! Way to Go Cubs! Way to go Marmol! Go Cubs Go!!!! What a great game to represent this milestone in the baseball history books! Cubs Win! Cubs Win!

Prose and Ivy Ryan: What a great game.

10,000 and counting. Great time to be a Cubs fan. Go Cubs Go! (Can you believe the Pirates are in at number 5 all-time?? Perhaps, but not with much help in recent years!)

Like this:

Anything is possible. Period. One of the greatest sports moments I’ve ever experienced. Congratulations to the NY Giants, that game was incredible! No matter the odds…no matter the obstacles…no matter what anyone thinks…anything is possible. And especially in professional sports! Way to go G-Men, you proved everyone wrong and I loved every minute of it!

(Now how about later this year, we say the same thing about the Cubbies!!)

Like this:

Ok, so Fukudome and his agent, Joe Urbon, are supposed to be making their big announcement sometime this week, probably tomorrow or Tuesday regarding their oficial decision as to whether he’ll be playing in Japan or the US next season. As of right now, the reports are stating that he has declined the offer made by the Yomiuri Giants and he will likely be accepting one of three MLB teams’ offers.
Oh boy.

Apparently, he feels he has all the information he needs to make his decision and I, like many other Cubs fans can’t wait to find out what that decision will be. He’s reported to be a cross between Ichiro and Hideki Matsui, so I’m expecting a REALLY fast player with a REALLY big head. My favorite part of this entire situation is how Urbon has mentioned that it is possible that Fukudome will have to tour the stadiums he might call home before making his decision…well in the words of Kirsten Dunst…BRING IT ON!

The Padres and the White Sox are supposedly our biggest competition in landing Mr. Fukudome’s services and there is nothing they have in their stadiums that can compare to the friendly confines of Wrigley. I believe true greatness can sense greatness, they know when they are surrounded by it, and when you step into Wrigley, that’s exactly what you feel. It’s not corporate. It’s living, breathing baseball history, some of the greatest that ever was, is and will be. The history and the ambience is in the walls, the seats, the scoreboard, the brick, the ivy, the feel that the stadium gives off while you’re there that the stadium…it TOO, is another one of our beloved Cubs in and of itself.

Could it possibly be something Fukudome will feel, or sense, when visiting the Padres and White Sox?

Hmmmm…’US Cellular Field’. ‘PETCO Park’.

Um. No.

If it comes down to Fukudome’s new home field ringing true to the feeling of ‘home sweet home’…I like our chances. T-Minus who knows how long…but we’ll find out. And apparently…we’ll find out “SOON”.